Twisted Fate
by dirtdiva94
Summary: Abnegation leaders are suspicious that Erudite and Dauntless are up to no good. The Priors volunteer to send Caleb and Tris to their factions as spy's hoping to put a stop to the plan Erudite and Dauntless is cooking up. Tris knows Eric is a Erudite transfer and Four a trusted leader, she must earn their trust to save her faction from doom.
1. Chapter 1

It was the day before our choosing ceremony. Caleb and I had just finished our simulations that were supposed to tell us our future, but unlike the rest of our classmates we already knew the results we would achieve, mine Erudite and Caleb Dauntless. Our parents had been coaching us for weeks, explaining that we would be given a series of choices and that we needed to get the right results so we would not surprise anyone when we defected.

"How did it go?" my father asked, as we all gathered in our small plain Abnegation living room.

"I got Erudite as expected," I mumbled. I was not thrilled with this plan and was even more nervous that I wouldn't even make it past initiation in Erudite though my parents had promised me a spot back at home with them, that Abnegation leadership supported this fully and was aware of what we were doing for our Faction. The only thing that terrified me more than a life at Erudite was a life back here, I didn't belong here and I didn't belong at Erudite, I had always hoped that the test would tell me where I needed to be but that was ruined now.

"I managed to get Dauntless, though it was terrifying, they are going to know I don't belong there," Caleb said. I secretly envied him, Dauntless looked amazing. Everyone was fearless and so full of life, I had mentioned I wouldn't mind going to Dauntless instead of my brother but my parents didn't think I would be physically capable of surviving. Caleb had been training to get stronger ever since this plan had been explained to us. I had tried to join him whenever possible but was always sent away to study.

"We know this is asking a lot from you both, but in the end you may end up saving our city, whatever Erudite and Dauntless are cooking up together defies what the founders have set in place, the faction system that has kept us at peace for the past 200 years."

Abnegation has been under verbal attack from Erudite though they never claim up to it. All the news has been about how corrupt our faction is stealing food and resources only for ourselves when in actuality we were giving them to the factionless, as was our responsibility. Abnegation leadership was positive that Erudite and Dauntless were planning something to get Abnegation out of leadership and possibly to destroy the faction system all together that is why we were defecting; something that would normally humiliate and embarrass my parents was now what they expected. After a long pause I was ready for this meeting to be over, I wanted to help my parents and my faction but I was not happy that my future was the cost of it all. I excuse myself and headed to my room. I looked at all the books on my desk and shoved them onto the ground, I was not smart, I hated reading and studying about every single part of the world, it was a waste of time and Erudite would soon realize I was not smart enough and I would not pass the final exam. I lay in bed staring up at the ceiling terrified of what the following day would bring. I heard my door squeak open and watch Caleb enter. He moved slowly coming over to my side. I sat up and stared at him.

"We have to be selfless tomorrow, we have to think about what is best for our faction and we have to remember the mission." As he spoke I could see he was trying to reassure himself more than he was reassuring me.

"I don't want to go to Erudite; I want to go to Dauntless." It came out as a whisper but it was the truth. It was the first time I had ever declared it, and it was oddly freeing. Caleb met my eyes and seemed intrigued by my statement.

"You have heard how tough Dauntless initiation is, you really want to get beat up all the time?" he questioned.

"You don't get beat up, you learn to fight, become strong, and become a warrior." I told him. He like most people was looking at it all wrong, Dauntless wasn't about hurting each other it was about making each other strong and although they were the only faction with mandatory cuts it made it all the more desirable to me, they took the best of the best and I wanted to prove it was me, earn a spot in my faction by being the bravest and strongest, trusted to keep my city safe.

The more I thought about it the more I realized just how desperate I was to have Caleb take my place in Erudite, but I needed him to say it. "Our parents have designed this whole plan around you going to Erudite and me going to Dauntless," he said.

"The plan would work as long as one of us ended up in both factions," I replied. The more I thought about it the more I realized I would go along with my parents plan, that tomorrow I would choose Erudite if I had to but I would leave it up to Caleb. "You get to choose first tomorrow, if you choose Erudite I **will** choose Dauntless." I needed him to know he would not wreck the plan if he switched that I would make it work, that I wanted badly for it to work this way. His eyes sparked at my statement and it gave me hope, this plan Abnegation had cooked up would work better if we fit in with our new factions though no one seemed to take that into account when forcing these factions on us.

"We should get some rest," he smoothed his pants and headed towards the door, I felt my heart drop. He hesitated before leaving though. "Beatrice we have to think about our parents and our faction tomorrow… but we also have to think about ourselves." And then he left. Sleep did not find me easily that night, but before I was ready morning dawned.

That morning was the quietest morning I had ever experienced, even my parents seemed to know how vital today was and they did not coat it with pleasantries or try and cheer us up. I followed with the rest of my faction to the great meeting hall where everyone would gather to watch the choosing ceremony. Caleb wouldn't even make eye contact with me; I had all but given up and as I sat through opening remarks I couldn't even bother to listen, soon names were being called. As per usual very few people defected, but once in a while you would hear the crowd gasp and then the parents of the child would cause a scene either with tears or with anger. It made me wonder how my parents would react when not only one but both of their children defected, all eyes would be on them and they no doubt would be that talk of the town back in Abnegation, my father was part of leadership and though some knew of this plan most did not.

"Caleb Prior," Jeanine Mathews said. She was the leader of Erudite and soon I would serve her. The thought gave me chills. Something was seriously wrong with her, she was the source for all the bad press on Abnegation and I was supposed to pretend I wanted to be part of that? The thought made me outraged. I watched my brother stand over the bowls and held my breath when he cut his hand, he held it out and the allowed the blood to fall into Erudite's faction. Everyone gasped including me. He didn't make eye contact he simply took his place among the sea of blue Erudite members. I didn't have time to see my parent's react. My name was called and I was moving in front of everyone. I grabbed the knife and looked down realizing this was my future. I glanced up at the crowd and found my parents, they were ghost white. I cut my hand and squeezed it over the burning embers of Dauntless, I heard my new faction erupt into cheers, and the joy I felt was like no other. I was able to exhale a breath that I felt I have been holding my entire life in Abnegation. I took the open seat in Dauntless and received many greetings.

The rest of the ceremony went by in a blur; I couldn't believe little Beatrice Prior had chosen Dauntless. Everyone stood at the conclusion and Dauntless began sprinting out. I joined them having no problem keeping pace with the middle of the pack. I had helped Caleb with his cardio so I was in better shape than the rest of the transfers; I also knew what was in store for me. The train, jumping off the roof so many terrifying things lying just ahead of me but as I ran with my new faction all I felt was excitement and adrenaline pumping through my body. The train was just ahead and I saw people throwing themselves in. Suddenly I realized that just because I knew what was ahead didn't mean I was prepared to do it, I watched people grab the handle and then jump up to the platform. That seemed to be the most common way to go about it. I sped up and grabbed the handle but didn't jump and was then being dragged; someone latched onto my hand and yanked me inside.

"Thanks," I whispered, completely out of breath now.

"For sure," the man said. "I am Zeke, welcome to Dauntless." Zeke had the largest smile I had ever seen plastered across his face. His happiness was contagious; I found myself smiling as he walked away. The train ride was pretty relaxed until we got near the Dauntless compound, people at the front started jumping out, time to jump onto the roof of the compound.

"They can't be serious," a girl dressed in Candor clothes said. I looked at her and she was clearly uneasy about the idea.

"Let's do it together?" I offered feeling nervous myself about the gap between the train and the roof. She grasped my hand and we sprinted and jumped. It felt like 500 butterflies were in my stomach before I collided with the rooftop, I felt tiny pebbles embed into my knees and scrape my shin. I heard the Candor girl laugh. I looked at her and she was clearly laughing at the situation we were in. I followed everyone over to the ledge of the building. Time to jump again… I needed to volunteer; I needed to get the attention of Dauntless leadership every way possible to ally myself with them. Eric was the target and based on my parents description of him he was the one standing on the ledge.

"Welcome initiates, your first task is to enter Dauntless, the only way in is to jump," and then he gestured to the ledge he was standing on. He hopped down and the people closest to him took a step back, I saw him smirk. "My name is Eric, I will be one of your leaders here, who want to go first?"

"Is there water at the bottom?" someone asked from the crowd, I could see the worry and anxiety on everyone's faces even the Dauntless born. Eric was not amused and it was clear he was not going to answer.

"I will jump first," I declared. Everyone in front of me cleared a path and I found myself standing on the ledge.

"Don't trip," Eric said.

I looked over and could not see the bottom but I knew there was a net, I winked at Eric and then let myself fall backwards. The butterflies returned and it was a freeing experience. It was like I had spent my whole life asleep and jumping off that building had woken me up and I could start living now. I hit the net before I was ready the jolt made me remember I was now in the Dauntless compound. I was pulled off to the side and my feet hit the ground, the person who had pulled me down took me off guard but this had to be Four, I was supposed to bond with him as well. I would have to get creative with how to win these guys over, my parents had all these plans for Caleb but being a girl it was going to require different tactics, I wasn't going to bond with them in the guy's dormitory or over weight lifting or any other guy crap.

"You jumped first?" he asked, clearly confused looking at my Abnegation clothes.

"Yeah of course," I said, nonchalantly.

"What is your name?" he questioned.

I paused for only a moment, "they call me Tris," I replied confidently.

"First jumper Tris," he said over his shoulder, there was an eruption of cheers and I felt some of the butterflies return to life. This was so much better than being in Erudite, right now Caleb was probably waiting in line to get his glasses fitted precisely to his facial sculpt, or was being shown the 6 story library and going over the extensive check out procedures. "Welcome to Dauntless."

"Thanks Four." As soon as I said it I realized it was a mistake, I was not supposed to know his name, and the inquiry on this face made it clear he knew I should not know his name. A screaming boy broke our awkward moment together and I took the chance to step to the side. Four stepped forward to assist the boy as he had done me. Once all the initiates were in the compound Eric was the last to hit the net. He walked over to Four and they talked for a few moments before turning to address all of us. As they stood next to each other I realized what I was dealing with.

Both of them large in stature, Eric larger than Four. They both appeared to be built out of nothing but muscle. Eric was wearing a black t-shirt so I would see the massive size of his arms. Four was wearing a black long sleeved shirt but even covering himself it was easy to see the build he had. They both stood there with arms crossed over their chests, stern looks on their faces, I wasn't sure if this was a tough guy act meant to frighten us or if this was their normal demeanor. Caleb had been warned extensively about how vicious Eric was, he never showed weakness or compassion and his trust was practically impossible to earn. Getting close to him would be a challenge. Four however was described as more of a loner, not really very active in Dauntless social life, that he was a transfer and although he was not officially part of Dauntless leadership Max trusted him with many secret. Eric was also a transfer, from Erudite and that is why it was so important to get close to him, it was believed he was a huge contributing factor in the plan between Dauntless and Erudite.

"Transfer initiates will be with Four, Dauntless born will go with Lauren," Eric spoke. "Only the strongest, fastest and smartest will remain at the end of these trials, the weak will be exposed and be shunned from our faction."

"We will take today and get you acclimated to Dauntless life, show you the dormitories and other key places around here, tomorrow training will begin at 6AM sharp. First thing first though we need to burn your clothing and get you into Dauntless flames," Four added.

"Flames?" someone asked in a shaky voice.

"Red and black clothes," I said while rolling my eyes. I saw Four glare at me but Eric seemed slightly amused. It appeared some of my Erudite prep work might come in handy after all, I had read a lot about the history of each faction Dauntless of course was the most interesting. We all followed after Four as he lead us around our new home. After our brief tour I found myself in the dormitory with the Candor girl I had jumped off the train with.

"My name is Christina by the way," she told me after we had been chatting for a while.

"Tris," I replied.

"Yeah I know a lot of people are talking about you. An Abnegation transfer who jumped first is kind of a big deal around here." I was glad people were talking about me that was the point of all of this after all. "Has there ever even been a defection from Abnegation to Dauntless? I mean isn't that the exact opposite of everything you are taught?"

"Yeah I never fit in there, always too aggressive and talking back," I replied.

"I can see that," she laughed. "The way you spoke up to Four was pretty ballsy."

I shrugged my shoulders indifferently. "He didn't seem to mind." We spent the rest of the evening chatting about what it was like growing up in the different factions and how it would be a large adjustment for us here. With all my prep I was still unbelievably nervous. I was expected to get noticed at all times, so Eric and Four would be talking about me to Max, so I could earn their trust but honestly I was a little terrified going into tomorrow. I spent most of my time reading about Dauntless and very little time getting in shape or going over actual fighting skills like my brother, those would be helpful for tomorrow but like the rest of the transfer initiates I would just have to learn as I went.


	2. Chapter 2

The alarm went off in the dormitory to signal it was time to eat. I was use to waking up early because it was too selfish to get more than 7 hours sleep once you were over the age of 12. I popped out of bed but could see some of the other initiates struggling to do the same. I hustled in to use the faculties and get my teeth brushed before others could join me, I was not very comfortable with the living arrangements boys were disgusting and I did not need them watching me change, but it was something I knew I would adjust to quickly. I helped Christina hustle along and then we were some of the first to arrive for breakfast, I recognized most of the food but had only ever eaten oatmeal and fruit for breakfast. I decided to stick with that today; I didn't need to shock my system with all these new foods. The eggs did look good though, I would have to expand a little each day to acclimate myself. As it started getting crowded we had already finished eating and decided to try and locate the workout area. After wondering around for some time we managed to locate our meeting spot.

"At least we won't be late," Christina said.

"Yeah I feel like it is bad to be late around here, especially with Four and Eric watching us."

"I am pretty sure only Four is around to train us." Christina was right Four was our teacher, that would make it harder for me to talk with Eric without it being weird or without looking like I was trying to suck up, even from my brief encounter with him I knew he would not like me if he thought I was just trying to get in his good graces, I would have to do something big so he would hear about it. People started wondering in slowly and right at 715AM Four walked in. He evaluated the initiates and I could see him counting.

"Glad we all made it here today," Four seemed genuinely excited to be here this morning. "This week will be about introducing you to different fighting techniques as well as showing you how to work out and get you guys in shape, we will build on these skills each week, spending less time in the weight room and more time on the mats, eventually evolving to shooting and knife throwing. There are many skills to learn so adapt fast."

"When do we get to fight each other?" someone asked. I saw the irritation on Four's face.

"What is your name?" Four questioned.

"Edward," the boy answered. Four motioned for him to come forward and as he made his way through the crowd I could see the smug look on his face, but I had a feeling Four was about to show Edward how Dauntless fought. Four led him up to one of the training mats and then assumed a fighting stance; Edward did not look so smug now.

"I meant fight each other not you," he mumbled.

"None of you has the first clue how to fight and you want to try and stand out by beating up on someone because you think you are big and strong?"

"Well no, I thought it was about proving you are tough." It was clear Edward was uncomfortable now; Four had shamed him well enough.

"I will fight him," I spoke up. I felt like my whole body was on fire, this boy was twice my size and though I had practice fighting with Caleb we never actually fought he trained with my father when it came to aggressive work. I remembered kidneys were weak for everyone, but you have to swing hard, the throat was always good if you could get close enough to your partner. Things flooded through my head as the room was dead silent.

"Let's see it then," a booming voice from the back said. It was Eric he must have come in during the distraction Edward had caused. As Eric approached Four stepped down from the mat and motioned for me to take his place. I took my stance in front of Edward and I saw he was still a little apprehensive, He took a stance and I took that as the signal to begin, I steeped at him quickly and connected with his face, he stumbled back and looked shocked, the pain in my hand was unbelievable, if hitting someone hurt this much I was not excited to see how much it was going to hurt when Edward hit me. He was still hesitating so I took that to mean I should strike again, I took a few quick jabs at his side before he became active and swung for me, I ducked reflexively to avoid being hit and before he could even finish his swing I tackled him colliding hard but as soon as he was on the ground I was pounding his side, it hurt a lot less to hit his flesh sides than his face, I swung hard where his kidney would be and he screamed out in pain, I crawled off of him and he started crying on the mat. I looked around and everyone was staring at me with a look of shock.

"Well done initiate," Eric announced, before he walked over to Four. They spoke and then Eric headed out.

"Well that was a fun intro," Four said, pulling everyone's attention back. "Let's get on with today." We followed Four as he showed us different equipment and no one seemed too concerned about Edward who was still balled up on the mat.

"I thought you transferred in from Abnegation," Christina whispered.

"I was always meant to be Dauntless," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I watched the rest of the day and didn't speak out, my hand was throbbing but I felt accomplished, couldn't believe that I was able to take down someone who was twice my size. I knew I wouldn't be so lucky the next time once Edward was ready and knew what he was doing, but for now I was all people seemed to be talking about. After Four dismissed us for lunch he stopped me from leaving.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" he asked, he didn't seem impressed with my performance, in fact he appeared to be very suspicious. It never occurred to me that showing off would lead to suspicion but coming from Abnegation it was highly unusual for me to know how to fight and be so bold, everything our faction was against.

"I don't know, just instincts," I replied. I needed to fix this, day two and Four was already on edge about me, this was the exact opposite of what I was supposed to be doing. Along with the fact that I called him by his name yesterday when I was not supposed to know it.

"Instincts?" he questioned. He rolled his eyes and started walking away from me.

"Okay wait!" I yelled. He stopped and walked back over. "I read about it, I was planning on defecting to Erudite because I love knowledge and learning. I didn't want you to think I was not committed to Dauntless I want to be here." My voice sounded desperate and I could not tell what Four was thinking.

"Why did you choose Dauntless then?"

"I hate feeling trapped and stuck in a building all day or a lab made me panic, I want to be free," that was not a lie; it couldn't have been any more true.

"No one likes a know it all, I will teach you what you need to know about being Dauntless, what you read about is just people's interpretation of our lives here, Erudite write those books and despite what they think they don't know everything." He smirked and it put me at ease.

"Sounds good," I agreed, relieved.

"Let's get lunch," he began leading the way to the mess hall. "Eric wants to see you in his office after you are released for the day, remind me and I will show you where it is." My relief was suddenly gone, Four seemed much more understanding than Eric, and I wasn't sure how my story would go over with him but I couldn't change it, Four and Eric would talk after and I needed to stay consistent. I agreed and now had to make sure I blended in a little better, I needed to stop knowing so much or they would never trust me, see me as an outsider.

Despite all my reading I was learning a lot from Four, while also picking up on some of the culture of Dauntless. Everyone was very lively, always fired up about something it seemed. I ate my first hamburger at lunch and that alone was life changing. There was so much excitement and so much to learn at the end of the day I was exhausted and extremely overwhelmed. So many expectations and standards, I didn't understand how you were always supposed to be brave and strong, everyone had weaknesses and fears, it would be exhausting if you were just tough all day every day. All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and decompress. I could already feel my sore muscles and knew tomorrow would be much worse.

"How was your first day?" Eric asked sliding into my path, I practically jumped he caught me so off guard.

"Overwhelming," I admitted.

"Follow me," he ordered. I trailed behind him as he weaved us through the compound until we arrived at his office. I sat in the chair across from his desk. It was a plain small office; I noticed there was nothing that seemed personal to him.

"That was an impressive showing today," he said.

"Thank you," I answered. I was going to try and keep my answers short. The less I talked the better chance I would keep myself out of trouble. Eric was so large in stature, he as an impressive specimen to look at. But it also was not hard to believe he was involved in some scheme to take down the factions, the feeling he gave off just reeked of mischievous, that he always seemed up to no good always looking for ways to tear people down, he certainly did not appear friendly.

"I pulled up your test results; you were suited to go to Erudite, why did you choose Dauntless?"

"How did you get access to my test results, I thought those were private?" I rolled my eyes at myself that was not what I should have said.

"I can get access to anything." My response put him on edge. "Coming from Abnegation and then getting a textbook case of Erudite it is unusual for you to choose Dauntless, seems like you might not belong anywhere."

"I hated Abnegation; it was like the life was being sucked out of me there. My ideas and personality was constantly being oppressed so I dove into books because it was one of the few activities we were allowed to do in spare time." I started explaining. "When I took the aptitude test I guess I was just so used to thinking analytically it was easy to result in Erudite but I know they would have suffocated me there, that I didn't belong in a lab."

"Those are some pretty bold statements, very rare for someone to hate the faction that raised them, no loyalty at all, how ruthless. Much like your performance today, striking Edward before the fight had even began."

"He took a fighting stance! I wasn't going to wait for him to decide to strike," I burst. That was an unfair judgment I didn't expect someone to say begin and I wasn't going to wait for Edward to hit me first. The more I was sitting their though I realized just how much pent of hostility I had, I didn't hate Abnegation but it certainly had stunted me as a person, stopped me from developing.

"Relax Tris," Eric told me. "It was impressive what you did today and I am glad to know you have no ties to your old faction and that you have a brain in your head." I relaxed a little; glad to know I wasn't being judged for how aggressive I had been today. "It can be difficult changing who you are, letting go of all your old values."

"Did you struggle with that?"

"What did you just say?" Shit I had no plausible explanation for how I knew Eric was a transfer that information wouldn't be in a text book anywhere.

"You transferred in from Erudite, I asked around about you last night at dinner, after I saw you on the rooftop."

"You should learn to keep your mouth shut more often, asking around about people makes it look like you are up to no good," Eric was seething.

"No it's not like that," I stuttered. "I just, I think you are attractive, and well, I was just asking to see if you, I mean if you ever talked to initiates." The words fell out of my mouth as I made them up, my face burning bright red the entire time. "Someone mentioned you were a transfer like me, top of your class." I knew that was not true that Four had been top of the class but I felt like a little flattery wouldn't hurt at this point. "I'm sorry, it was dumb." I added, feeling like he was going to banish me to the factionless at any moment.

"Next time if you want to know something ask me yourself," Eric said, a small smirk on his face, I was mortified and would probably remain that way for at least 24 hours. There was a long pause and I took that as my cue to leave, I stood but before I could exit Eric spoke again. "And for the record I don't," he said.

"Don't what?" I asked, my voice shaking. All I wanted to do was get as far away from this office as I could right now.

"Don't talk to initiates." I nodded and he laughed. I turned and ran out of his office, I felt sick to my stomach that was hands down the most embarrassing moment in my entire life. I should have just kept quiet; I was always getting myself into trouble by over stepping my boundaries. Even back home I was always told to hush, that I spoke out of place too much, asked too many questions. I don't know how I would ever redeem myself in Eric's view no doubt I was just some stupid girl to him now, my bravery today would be for nothing.

 **A/N HI! This will be a short story, thinking less than 10 chapters. (short for me at least) Let me know what you think. Tris is looking to be a little more vicious in this story.**


	3. Chapter 3

The week finished out well, I was able to bond with some of my fellow initiates while also finding time to chat with Four between classes, he was an interesting man. He didn't reveal anything of value but at least I could approach him without it being awkward, most other initiates only talked with him during class about the material. For trying to be brave most of the initiates were pretty scared of Four and Eric and most upper Dauntless members, they are all just people and most of them are very friendly. I didn't have any problems talking to anyone, except Max he blew me off but I had only been here a short time I still needed to prove myself. We had just finished up our last lesson for the day and were headed to dinner when I saw Jeanine Mathews turn a corner in front of us with Eric and Max at her sides. I sped up my pace a little but by the time I reached the corner there was no sight of them.

"Geez you hungry Tris, slow down and wait for us would you?" Al joked. I smiled and waited for them to catch up. I had been hoping that Abnegation leadership was mistaken that Dauntless wasn't up to anything but seeing Jeanine here pretty much guaranteed in my mind that something was going on, what other explanation is there for an Erudite leader meeting in the Dauntless compound. It was not unusual for leaders of factions to meet but it was very unusual for them to meet in the faction headquarters, they always met on neutral ground and NEVER had I heard of leaders meeting in the underground compound of Dauntless. Something was up.

After dinner and no sight of Eric I left my friends and started wondering around just looking for things that seemed out of the norm, I wasn't sure what that would be as Dauntless didn't really seem to have a norm but I was new enough to say I was lost if someone found me in a place I was not supposed to be in. As I turned corner after corner I realized I was kind of lost, every place in Dauntless seemed to lead to a dark alley way. I took notice of the cameras above me and made mental note that the entire complex seemed to be wired.

"What are you doing?" I must have jumped out of my skin; I turned to see Eric behind me and wondered where he had come from and how long he had been following me.

"I was looking for you," I said, calming my nerves. First sentence out of my mouth and I had already screwed up my plan of being lost. "I was trying to find your office, but honestly don't know where I am now."

"And why were you looking for me?" he asked a grin covering his face. He walked closer to me so we were only a few inches apart. His wolfish grin reminded me of a childhood story my parents read me growing up. Little Red Riding Hood, with the wolfish grin Eric was a ringer for the big bad wolf. He didn't seem angry though he seemed like me to be up to no good.

"Well I wanted to apologize for earlier in the week," my voice was timid, not even I knew what would come out my mouth next but I had an idea. I slid forward so our chests were almost touching and looked up at him, he towered over me not just in height but physically his presence just over took mine. "I didn't mean to over step by asking about you."

His arm brushed down mine and it felt like his fingertips were sending electricity though my body. "You shouldn't be lurking around alone in these dark hallways," he said. "Someone might take advantage of you." I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face.

"I can take care of myself."

Eric bent down so his lips were right by my ear and whispered, "We will see about that." A chill ripped through me having him so close to my body. He stood back up and gripped my hand yanking me down the hallway, I didn't say anything and soon I recognized where we were. "You know where we are?" he asked releasing me. I simply nodded. "Tris next time I find you wondering around at night all alone you won't be so lucky as to just walk away." I could hear the seduction in his voice and I realized that this was the perfect way to Eric. He was a man and luckily for me he was a very attractive man, if teasing him to gain his trust was all I had to do then I could manage that and might even enjoy it a bit. Sure Eric was cruel and mean to everyone but it could be worse.

"Oh yeah?" I asked. "Are you going to hurt me?" Flirting and trying to make myself appealing to a man was something I had never even considered. But it was easy with Eric, easy to play to his need for power and dominance.

"I'll see you soon." And with that he walked away. I felt myself flush and inhaled a deep breath. What was I about to get myself in to? Fighting and shooting a gun seemed like child's play compared to seducing Eric… I would need to get a game plan together.

…

I needed to start making things happen. Training was going well. I was a natural fighter, some thought I was a bit ruthless but it was a fight I wasn't here to play nice. Eric and I had flirty banter back and forth occasionally but not much else. I had figured out Jeanine's schedule here in Dauntless, she visited every Friday for 2 hours in a secured room, where armed guards stood and waited and then escorted her out of the building. No one was ever with Jeanine she was the only Erudite I ever saw enter the compound. Max and Eric were always in the meetings, I would see others come and go from the room but not too often. Four was never there and I found that interesting.

"I can't!" Christina's cry brought me back to reality. "Please, I can't," she was coughing up blood. Eric stepped up to the mat and pushed Emily aside. I didn't know what he was going to do; we were instructed never to give up, no matter what. He assisted her up and then addressed the class.

"That is enough for today, everyone follow me," Eric said. He walked with Christina and we followed until we reached the chasm. He grabbed Christina and tossed her over but held on to one of her hands. I felt like my heart had stopped, she was my closest friend here what the hell was he doing. "Grab on," he told her, indicating to the rail. She gripped the metal railing and Eric released her, I thought I was going to throw up.

"Dauntless never give up, so you have two options. Give up again and I will pull you to safety and cut you from Dauntless or fight for your life and I will forget your cowardice." I watched as Christina struggled to keep her grip I don't think I could handle watching her fall to her death that might destroy me. I couldn't believe Eric he knew Christina was my closest friend, I know we were just flirting around but still this was crazy. We locked eyes and I just glared at him. "Time!" He yelled. I sprinted forward to grab Christina, Will was right behind me and we pulled her up, she had tears falling down her face now. Will took her into his arms and pulled her away from the crowd. "Class dismissed," Eric grinned, he had clearly enjoyed that.

"Eric is so twisted," Al said as we headed away from the chasm.

"Yeah something is wrong with him," I agreed. I don't know how I ever thought there could be any good inside him, he liked torturing people.

"Tris wait up," Eric grabbed my shoulder and Al went on without me. He had a smile on his face and I didn't understand why.

"Throwing someone over the edge of the chasm make you happy?" I asked. His features changed instantly.

"Since when are you soft? I thought you understood what it takes to be Dauntless?" he questioned.

"I know what it takes, but Christina is my friend you could have made your point in a different way," I said, popping my hip out to the side.

"You think because I like you I should take it easy on your friends? You don't take it easy on anyone, you broke Emily's nose last week, where was your compassion then?"

I couldn't help the warm feeling I got when Eric said he liked me. I knew it was dumb that I didn't have real feelings for him that he was plotting against my faction but Eric was sexy and I mean I was constantly wondering what it would be like to be with him, but I knew emotions were not allowed, that he is a villain and in my head it all made sense but my emotions didn't always listen. "She gave me a black eye! We were fighting it was different." It was important for me to glaze over his statement Eric was not big on feelings and I didn't want to scare him off. He rolled his eyes and just stared at me. "What where you going to say when you stopped me?" I asked returning to his original train of thought.

"I was going to ask if you were hungry," he said.

"Don't you have a meeting?" It was Friday he should be meeting with Jeanine shortly. He was never in the mess hall on Friday's.

"And how would you know that?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You are never in the mess hall on Friday's, I know because I look for you," I explained. Boosting his ego was a guaranteed way out, he always assumed if it was about him then there was nothing more to the story.

"Well I am free today, you want to join me or not?"

"No thanks," I could tell he was agitated.

"Why the hell not?" he barked.

"Because I have plans for dinner," I said and then backed away from him. I knew he did not take rejection well but I also knew Eric would get bored if I made things too easy. He turned and began stomping away. "Hey Eric," I called before he got too far off. "I was thinking later though I might wonder around the dark hallways, maybe you could come find me and teach me a lesson?" I saw the smallest smirk appear on his face. I had referenced our conversation back in week one when he found me snooping around. I headed out not waiting for a response. I knew it was wrong to be excited but I couldn't help that despite him being a malicious villain I did like Eric, deep down I knew it was true.

"Where have you been?" Four asked, as I sat across from him.

"I got stuck with Eric," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I heard what he did to Christina," Four agreed.

"I don't know how someone can like hurting people as much as he does." Four laughed under his breath and I didn't appreciate it. "What is so funny?" I demanded.

"I find it ironic that you also enjoy hurting people, like when you fight you are always over board beating on people and it is also funny that are hating on Eric so much when you are the one who likes him."

"I DO NOT!" I said slamming my hands down on the table. Everyone looked over at us now. "I may be a little overaggressive and I may like winning fights but I take it as good as I get it. I just so happen to be good at fighting unlike most people here I listen and learn the techniques instead of just relying on strength. So yes I do like when I take down a big opponent not because I like hurting them but because I like showing everyone that despite my small stature I am tough and strong and belong here," I explained. How dare he accuse me of enjoying hurting people, I was ruthless and fought hard but I did not get any satisfaction out of the pain I brought them. "And as far as Eric goes I just-"

"Just like spending all your free time together, like cuddling up in the dark corners where you think no one can see you. Always putting your hands on each other," Four cut in. I felt my face flush. Eric and I had gotten used to bumping into each other in the hidden corners of Dauntless or what I thought were hidden. "I work in the control room Tris, I see everything that happens around here." Our flirty moments caught on camera, nothing too embarrassing but still.

"Everything?" I asked. "Even what Jeanine Mathews is doing in the Dauntless compound?" I lowered my voice and it was apparent I had caught him off guard.

"How do you know about that?" he asked looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"Eric doesn't eat in here on Friday's I wanted to see why and I bumped into him with Jeanine. Turns out to be a normal occurrence and I can't think of a single reason why can you?" I asked.

"What did Eric say when you asked him?"

"I didn't ask him because despite what you think I don't like him and we are not friends," I said glaring at him.

"Not friends? Just get friendly when no one is watching?" Four accused. "But fine, follow me," He grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the exit.

"You blew me off for Four?" Eric barked when we bumped into him on the way out.

"Four doesn't throw my friends over the chasm," I glared at him before continuing on with Four.

"You guys are weird," Four said.

"Yeah I know, let's not talk about it."

I followed Four to the control room, he explained to the guy I was a hopeful prospect for this job and he wanted to show me around. The man in charge saw no problem with that, I followed Four to his station which was in the very back corner, easily hidden from everyone else. "I work with a lot of sensitive data that is why I am back here," he explained without me even having to ask. He pulled up some footage and moved over for me to look. There were 4 screens and it documented Jeanine's arrival and trip through Dauntless. Max met her outside the compound and escorted her in, they made not stops before heading to the secure room, they entered and the two armed guards stood there. Eric arrived 30 minutes later. No one came into the room and after them.

"It usually lasts about 2 hours and like you said every Friday."

"There are no camera's in the room?"

"No, most of Dauntless is wired but there are a handful of conference rooms and places that are not, mostly for the privacy of Dauntless leadership."

"Why would they need privacy?" This was more of a question for myself and Four seemed to know that as he did not supply me with a response. "Do you know what is in that room?" I asked, making eye contact with Four now.

"I have never been in there, I looked into it a few months back and around last year they started rolling all kinds of equipment in, lots of monitors and what looked like lab equipment. It was all done late at night and very under the radar, equipment was delivered from Erudite…" Four explained.

"Why does this have you so intrigued?" Four had done a lot of research and it was crystal clear he thought that whatever was going on in that room was no good.

"Erudite shouldn't be here, with Eric coming in as a transfer from there it makes it all the more suspicious."

"Have you been paying attention to all the bad press put on Abnegation?" I asked, my voice so low it was barely a whisper.

"You think that something is going on? That they are plotting against Abnegation?"

"It is clear the rumors are coming from Erudite, and with Dauntless leaders lurking around with them it is hard not to tie it all together don't you think?"

"Some of those rumors are true you know, I would tell you I came from Abnegation but I have a feeling you already knew that." Four said, looking me up and down.

"What makes you say that?" I felt my nerves light up.

"You seem to know a lot of things that you shouldn't and you seem to be intrigued by a lot of things most people don't even notice. Makes you hard to trust and clearly indicates you are up to no good."

"Then why are you showing me this?"

"I think something bad is going to happen and I don't want Dauntless to get caught in the cross hairs of it all. The people pf Abnegation are innocent and should not suffer because Erudite and Dauntless are power tripping."

"We need to see what is in the room," I told him.

"It requires key card access," Four informed me.

"You have a key card don't you?"

"Yes but it denies my access when I try and enter."

"I have an idea, and it would help if the cameras weren't around to see it. You think you can create a black spot tonight?"

"I can but I will have to watch."

"Close your eyes," I whispered.

 **A/N Stay tuned for some spice coming up! Thanks for the reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

I wrapped up with Four and headed back to the dormitory to change. I pulled on a pair of dark jeans and black blouse. Christina helped me put on some makeup and questioned me to death about my sudden obsession with glamour. I never needed anyone to know what I was doing tonight even though Four would be watching I hoped he wouldn't be watching too closely. I kept telling myself that this was all professional that this was what I needed to do to gain access to that room that I needed to do this for the safety of Abnegation and for my family.

"Just tell me what you are doing and who you are trying to impress?!" Christina demanded.

"I will tell you if it works, I don't want to tell people in case he blows me off because that is embarrassing." She reluctantly agreed and I was happy to escape. I headed out around 10pm and began weaving my way through the Dauntless hallways until I was just around the corner from the room Jeanine had been meeting in. It was less than 10 minutes before Eric had was standing in front of me.

"That was quick, if I didn't know any better I would say you were watching me," I smirked.

"I am, what were you doing with Four in the control room today?" he asked inching his way closer to me. His question threw me off guard I was joking when I asked if he was watching me but apparently he actually was.

"I mentioned to Four I wanted to join the control room after initiation, and he offered to show me around a little. See if I really liked it in there. Are you actually watching me?" I asked.

"I am a Dauntless leader I am watching everyone," he smirked back at me now.

"And you just managed to get eyes on me 10 minutes after I wandered into this dark, secluded corner did you?" Now was not the time to be serious now was the time to have a little fun and get Eric to trust me or at least to make a mistake.

"Maybe I have friends in the control room who give me a heads up when you are alone, or stalking Four," He was right up next to me now.

"Four isn't my type, too kind, too dull," I said dropping my voice. With him so close it made our interactions feel very private.

"You want to play Tris?" our lips were only an inch apart; I could feel his warm breath hit my lips. My heartrate was accelerating and I could feel the adrenaline surging through me.

"That depends," I whispered. My lips brushing his as I talked, Eric put his hands on my waist and I could feel the tension in his body, he was waiting for me to consent.

"Depends on what?" He kissed me for the briefest second and I could see him losing his patience. His grip around my waist tightened and his body was leaning into me now.

"I will play…" I said dragging it out in a dramatic fashion. "But only if I get to be the toy."

I hardly got the last work out before Eric was kissing me and kissing me hard. I was pinned against the wall without a way to move. His kisses were desperate, his breathing heavy, his lips moved down my neck, his hands finding their way under my shirt, up my abdomen. My judgment was clouding quickly and it was all but impossible to focus on anything but the large man defiling me.

"Eric wait," I managed to say.

"I can't stop Tris," he exhaled between heavy breaths, his eyes burned deep into mine. Everything felt so real; the passion was almost feasible between us.

"The cameras," I breathed. "Someone is always watching."

"People have sex all over this compound," he returned to kissing down my body his hands running all over my skin.

"I'm not like that," I said pushing him off. I could see he was agitated, I wasn't supposed to be annoying him I was supposed to be seducing him. Everything was a mess in my head and my emotions all over the board. "Do all of these rooms have cameras in them?" I asked, motioning to the door that I needed access to. I pulled him back close to me. "Come on Eric please, don't you have access to a private room?" I saw him roll his eyes and step back from me. He ran his hands through his hair and I sensed he had changed.

"Is that what this is about?" he asked. I felt my heart sink, he knew. Somehow he knew everything.

"What do you mean?" my voice was shaky, I would be lucky if all he did was banish me to the factionless he could kill me and be declared a hero for it. I was partaking in treason.

"You are one of those girls that is desperate for power, turn you on going into a restricted zone, being with a Dauntless leader? Damn it!" He exclaimed. I could not believe the ego on this guy, like I was some lame groupie that just wanted to be with him because he was powerful, girls like that were pathetic. I know I am supposed to be nice to him and supposed to be earning his trust but Eric was a pig no matter how you looked at it. He was power hungry, enjoyed inflicting pain on people and was just a jerk. I didn't need him, Four and I could figure it out, and we could gain access to that room.

"You are an idiot, I actually happen to have a sense of decency and wasn't going to let you defile me while your creepy friends in the control room watched. You're pathetic Eric." I pushed past him and it seemed he was a bit shocked.

"Hold on Tris," he reached for me and pulled me close to him. "I didn't mean to be so harsh," he smirked at me. Who did he think he was, like a smile was just going to make everything okay, it was clear Eric didn't know how to treat a lady let alone be with one.

"Hands off." I shoved him back and stormed out of the secluded corner. I was so angry, how dare Eric think I was some trashy girl who would just throw myself at him because he was powerful. I found myself in the middle of the pit and Four put himself in front of me.

"What kind of plan was that?" he asked, pulling me out of the crowd.

"I was trying to seduce him, and then get him to take me into that restricted room, but he is such a prick I couldn't stand to be around him one more minute." Four laughed and I felt my temper flare for the second time that night. "WHY IS THAT FUNNY?!" I screamed.

"Eric doesn't like desperate girls, he gets that all the time," Four explained.

"What did you just call me?!"

"Relax killer, I don't think you are like that, I am just saying that is kind of how you acted and Eric isn't about that. He likes you because you are different, because you are strong and don't need him to be powerful, he likes independent women."

I thought about it and I suppose he was right I had acted like a desperate girl just trying to please him. I said things I knew he wanted to hear, I pretended to be nice when that is not how I felt, Eric had clearly picked up on it all and me asking him to flex his power was more than he could take. Maybe it wasn't my best plan. Four did seem to know a lot about Eric's taste in women.

"You his best friend all of a sudden? Gossip about your crushes do you?" I asked, trying to get the attention off of my shameful performance.

"Lots of long hours together, only so much to talk about with a pycho path. We are both men gives a few common things we can talk automatically discuss."

"You know he has someone in the control room watching me. He wasn't thrilled I was spending time with you."

"Wow he must have had a real thing for you."

"Why because he creepily stocks me? He has serious control issues if you ask me," I snorted.

"Here he comes," Four said looking over my shoulder.

I turned around and sure enough Eric was heading right towards us and he sure did look pissed. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to make it over to me. He walked until he was right in front of me, he was a step too close, invading my personal space but he locked eyes with Four over my shoulder. "I need to borrow Tris," Eric said, before grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the Pit and away from everyone.

"Enough!" I demanded, pulling us to a stop. "Where the hell are you dragging me to?" I was not in any kind of mood to me forced somewhere with Eric right now. Despite my struggles with keeping my attraction to him down I knew what kind of man he was and I knew he was up to no good.

"I didn't mean to sound so dumb back there, you were just acting too nice, giving into whatever I wanted, you don't usually act like that." He seemed uncomfortable, fidgeting and he refused to look me in the eyes.

"Well I was nervous," I admitted. Eric smiled at me and it made me smile, he put his hands under my shirt and pulled me close to him, squeezing my hips. This was different, everything felt very calculated, and every move was much slower and more deliberate. I could feel the butterflies fluttering in my stomach and I knew it was wrong that Eric was everything that was wrong with our society. I met his eyes and he smirked at me. He closed the gap and his lips melted over mine. It wasn't desperate like before but the fire burned brighter. His hands moved off my hips and tangled themselves in my hair, pulling slightly, his tongue glossing over my teeth before he bit down on my lip just hard enough. My hands held onto his arms, I felt my grip tightening. He pulled away from me and for a brief moment it felt like it was just us like the entire world was frozen for just that moment.

"Forgive me?" he asked. I couldn't believe it, Eric apologizing for something he said, to me. I had never heard him apologize to anyone before, and he had thrown my best friend over the side of the chasm.

"I… I don't know," I heard myself say. He looked at me confused. "I think you should apologize again," I smirked. He realized what I meant and leaned down kissing me hard this time, his hand squeezing my ass.

"Eric," I pulled away and saw a female standing in front of us. "What the fuck are you doing?" She demanded. "She's an initiate, you broke up with me for some tiny boring little GIRL?!" she yelled. I could see her going from disbelief to anger. Eric released me but he didn't seem embarrassed like I was he seemed agitated. The girl stepped forward and slapped Eric across the face. My hand shot up to cover my mouth. Eric just stood there.

"Hope that made you feel better because it is the only free hit you will ever be allowed. Now is that all?" I saw the women melt inside herself, clearly she had expected a different reaction from him and was now unsure of how to proceed.

"Max is looking for you; he is with some Erudite people." She spat out, gaining back her confidence. "And go fuck yourself and your slutty little initiate while you're at it."

"He won't need your help with that," I said, stepping forward. I didn't know where the fire was coming from but this woman had insulted me several times now and I wasn't just going to stand there and be quiet while she berated me. She scoffed before walking off. Eric turned to me with a huge guilty grin on his face. "Don't get excited, I have to go, and it sounds like so do you." I didn't wait for a response before heading off. I was caught off guard when my arm was grabbed and I was spun around colliding with Eric's lips. He kissed me for just a moment before heading off, leaving me standing there speechless.

 **A/N Next chapter we will see what Caleb has discovered while going through Erudite initiation.**


	5. Chapter 5

I took a moment to regain my composure before heading back to the Pit. I saw Four was sitting with some people but when he saw me he stood up and we walked out together. We didn't say anything and I realized he was leading us somewhere, we wrapped around all of Dauntless until we somehow ended up at the bottom of the chasm behind the roaring water.

"What are we doing here?" I yelled. It was so loud it was the only way Four was going to be able to hear me. My face was getting wet from the mist put off from the falling water.

"If Eric really does have someone watching you I don't want him to see us together all the time, especially if you come running over to me every time you leave him." Four explained. That made a lot of sense and was actually very smart.

"Well Eric was pulled away because Erudite was in the building."

Four thought for a moment, "I am going to head over to the control room and see if I can spot them. Since they are meeting at an unusual time maybe something is different and they will do more than lock themselves in that room."

"What should I do?" I asked.

"You can't come, it would look bad, I will let you know if I find anything, you think you can make it back upstairs alright? If his friend is working in the control room I don't want it to look like I brought you down here."

"Why would that be bad? Is this spot off limits?" I asked just curious now.

"No," he smiled now. "A lot of people come here to be romantic or even skinny dip in the water." I looked at the pouring water beating down as it landed and couldn't imagine the freezing water would make for a good place to skinny dip.

"Isn't that really dangerous?"

"Welcome to Dauntless." I rolled my eyes and nodded. Four left and I decided to wait a little bit, maybe try and come out a different way then him. After about 15 minutes and my clothes were soaked completely through I decided I needed to leave and get dry. I wondered around for another 20 minutes before I finally found a place that looked familiar. I made it to the dorms and changed. I plopped down next to Christina but before I could say anything Eric burst through the doors.

"Tris come with me," he ordered.

"What the hell did you do?" Christina asked, I shrugged my shoulders but got up and followed Eric out.

"Where are we going?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I want you to come with me to Erudite." I felt a jolt go through my body like somehow this was a bad thing, like somehow this meant he knew I was watching him, he knew I was onto whatever he was working on.

"Why?" I decided it was better to keep cool though I was exploding on the inside.

"It's a long trip and I want some company, I can trust you right?" he asked as we made it to the surface level. Now I was uncomfortable I didn't want to lie to Eric it felt like he was being so honest and genuine.

"Of course," I agreed. He nodded and I followed him to a ranger, I hoped up into the passenger seat and Eric showed me how to strap in before he closed my door. I had never been in a car before. He got into the driver's seat and we were off. We didn't talk the entire ride over but it wasn't awkward it felt normal, like forcing a conversation would have ruined the whole ride. When we arrived at Erudite it was almost midnight.

"What are we going to do here so late?" I asked.

"I need to check out some programs they are creating here, sometimes Erudite gets carried away with things they invent, they think they can run the city and need to be reminded no program or simulation will save them that Dauntless is the only faction who provides safety."

"Oh," was all I could manage to say. That was very honest and very unexpected. Erudite was responsible for creating a lot of weapon components we used, and it would be easy for a bunch of brains like these to take it too far and think they could protect themselves or the city. This was the first time I had been inside Erudite compound and it was very impressive, rows and rows of computers all filled with people who looked enthralled in whatever was on the screen. Walls surrounded in books. As I examined everything my eyes got caught on Caleb. "So what now?"

"I need to see a few classified things you won't be able to come," he said.

"Seriously? Why did you even bring me then?" I asked, whatever was classified was what I needed to see.

"I brought you for me, to keep me company. Not for your opinion, at least not this time," he said looked down at me.

"Fine but I am going to wonder around then, find me when you're done." This was not a question. I walked away without waiting for him to speak but I did hear a slight laugh so I figured I was in the clear. I walked hesitantly around before making my way as casually as I could over to my brother. "Caleb," I whispered. He jumped slightly before locking eyes with me.

"Beatrice," he was stunned. His neighbor looked over at him clearly annoyed with the disruption. He stood and motioned for me to follow him. We went around the corner to what appeared to be another study room though this one had no computers or fancy electronics, it seemed to be an old fashion library, it looked similar to rooms we had in Abnegation. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?" he asked, clearly worried for me.

"Relax Caleb, I am Dauntless I can take care of myself, and I was brought here with Eric and he would not be happy with anyone who caused me trouble."

"You are that close of friends with him? Already?" Caleb was pretty surprised; he had detailed knowledge of Eric and all Dauntless personal that were worth knowing.

"It's complicated," I admitted. "How is it over here?"

"Something is going on. I have heard whispers of Jeanine at Dauntless and a few of the other top scientists seem to disappear around the same time every week, and now you are here with Eric."

"He told me Erudite was getting too aggressive with some of their creations that he needed to see what was going on, but it was too classified for me to see."

"Then why did he bring you?" Caleb was clearly getting too smart being in Erudite.

"Have you heard anything about Abnegation?" I asked, deflecting. Caleb eyed me warily before answering.

"Erudite is responsible for all of the bad press, one of my fellow initiates is working in the press room and she said they research Abnegation non-stop and told to report any kind of information they find," he seemed to get more uncomfortable the more he talked. "She said that she has found a few things that might point to Abnegation being a little less than honest, that some of the rumors might be true after all…"

My initial reaction was to tell him he was wrong but Four had been beaten by his Abnegation leading father and our parents in all of our debriefs had never shared that information with us; always telling us that that Abnegation was upstanding because they never thought of themselves. I decided though that Caleb didn't need to know everything I knew just yet. "How are you doing?"

"I like it here Beatrice, everything is about knowledge and bettering the mind. The mind controls everything we do if more of our society would nurture the brain we could be so much more advanced. Erudite should be the leaders, they have all this knowledge and we only get to share tiny amounts of it."

"Caleb don't get brainwashed here, Abnegation those are our parents and our friends and family you are talking about."

"Don't think with your emotions think with your brain," he urged me. "And since when are those people your friends you never belonged in Abnegation."

"Watch it," I warned him. It seemed I had scared him slightly. "Dauntless has taught me well and I will not let you insult them."

"Faction before blood then…" he looked down and slightly moved back from me. He was worried I would hurt him. "I see they have managed to teach you some things in the backwards, overaggressive faction." I was a little stunned, couldn't believe how angry his words were making me.

"Tris," it was Eric. He walked over to Caleb and me. "What is going on here?"

"This is my brother; I bumped into him when I was looking around. He was showing me some of the different things here. All I see is books and more books, a big waste of time."

"Nothing compares to the Dauntless compound," Eric agreed. "You are dismissed," he ordered Caleb, who walked away with is eyes locked on the floor, he never made eye contact with Eric once.

"See everything you need to see then?" I asked him.

"For now, it is late I will need to come back during the day tomorrow unfortunately when everything and everyone is available. Erudite shuts down a lot of their recourses at midnight and refuses to turn them back on until the morning."

"Do I get to come with you again?"

"You still can't see any of the programs and you shouldn't be talking with your brother," he explained.

"I don't mind, I like being out of the compound and I like being out with you," my voice was much quieter this time. I knew I shouldn't feel embarrassed that I wasn't supposed to mean what I was saying but I couldn't help but fear the rejection. He simply nodded and I decided not to press my luck, if he wanted me to come he would find me. "So we are leaving then?"

"We are leaving Erudite," he agreed. It sounded like we were not heading back to Dauntless though. I followed him out feeling all of the stares on our backs, it was clear that people did not like that we were here, and in a sea of blue and white our black clothing stood out dramatically. The fresh air was so crisp on my lips it was almost as though I could take a bite out of the night air. "I love late nights," Eric said kind of absentmindedly.

"Why is that? So no one can see that you are up to no good?" I joked. The dark would be the perfect cover and it would be like Eric to dislike the sun and all things associated with joy.

"The night is the only time you can see a person's true self, people act different in the daylight with wondering eyes on you, always acting how you think you think you should, or how you want people to see you. At night you are free to act as you are, away from the light."

I stopped walking too shocked to comprehend what he had just said to me. I grabbed his hand so he turned and faced me now. "I see you," I whispered. He smiled at me and I leaned up and kissed him I didn't even think it just happened. When I pulled away from him I could see our breath but I didn't feel the cold air I only felt Eric.

 **A/N Let me know what you think as things develop! Thanks**


	6. Chapter 6

As we drove it was clear very quickly we were not headed back to the Dauntless compound. Surprisingly even to myself I didn't care, I wasn't worried and I was hardly even curious, I was just enjoying the drive. It was great to be away from everyone and the stress and annoyance of initiation and always trying to see what was up with Erudite and Dauntless was exhausting, tonight I would just let whatever happened and I liked that it was with Eric because I knew it wouldn't be dull. We ended up driving for a bit of time before coming up to the fence. A guard came up to Eric's door and smiled when he realized who it was.

"What's up Eric," the guy greeted. "What are you doing out here so late, and who is with you?" he asked flashing his light over to me.

"It is classified," Eric answered. The guys grin disappeared and I could sense him becoming more serious.

"I need to see your badge if that is the case." Eric pulled a badge that was under his coat and the man pulled out a device that scanned it. He nodded and backed away before the gates opened and we were allowed to pass, in just a short minute we were officially on the outside of the wall. I couldn't believe it.

"What are we doing out here?" I asked.

"I can trust you right?" Eric asked for the second time tonight. He didn't even take his eyes off the road, like he knew my answer, he was more confident in me than even I was. I paused for a minute and thought about it before responding.

"Absolutely."

It was another 15 minutes before Eric finally stopped the Jeep. "Any idea where we are?" he asked looking over to me finally.

"Outside the wall," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"This is the very edge of Amity farms." He explained.

"And what is past this?" I asked. He got out of the Jeep and I quickly got out and met him. He looked at me before offering me his hand, I grasped his firmly and he began leading the way. We walked for over an hour in patchy terrain that was uneven and rocks became more common than the grassy field we were leaving behind. I could see where driving the Jeep in this area would be difficult; despite the difficulty of the climb Eric never released my hand as he led us. It was clear once we had reached where he wanted us to be. We came over the clearing and then I saw it. As far as the eye could see which in the dark was not as much as I wanted was desolate empty, burned earth. The ground was red and brown, jagged rocks and rough sand lay across the floor, nothing like the thriving planes Amity farmed on. With only the moonlight projecting light it made the lands look more bare and dead than I ever imagined possible. "What is this place?" I gasped. He waited until I sat next to him before speaking.

"It is what is left after the war," Eric explained. He sat down and his legs swung off the ledge, it looked like it wouldn't be too hard to get down to the scorched earth below.

"Have you ever gone down there?"

"Never," he said, meeting my gaze.

I didn't know what to say, my mind was racing and nothing made sense anymore. Eric was nothing like the person he was described as, nothing I thought of him seemed to line up anymore. We sat in silence the cool air filling the space between us as night when on, it had to be closer to daylight than night time now. "Eric," I put my hand over his hand so he would look at me, I was surprised to find his hand to be warm, mine felt like ice comparatively though I barely noticed the chilly evening. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted someone to see it, I don't know of any others who have ever made it this far, there is no set rule but only a few members of our society have the clearance to make it this far and I doubt anyone has ever bothered to hike all the way up here and even if anyone had they would never admit it."

"Why me?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "You knew you belonged here, that Abnegation was suffocating you and that Dauntless was the only way to be free, it just sounds a lot like me, why I left Erudite."

"Why is Erudite leadership in Dauntless so often?" It just slipped out, after his last statement I felt like I could trust him, it was clear though that I was wrong. He immediately stiffed and pulled back from me.

"You shouldn't be focused on those types of things, let's go we need to get back before the sun comes up," he stood abruptly and started walking back. I had to jog to catch up with him. I wanted to fill the silence but came up short. I was out of breath by the time we made it back to the jeep. The ride back was long and silent, whatever bit of trust I had earned with Eric was long gone. When we finally arrived back it was still dark though I knew the sun was not far behind us. "Rest up, you are in for a long morning," it came out as a threat.

"I'm not worried." I got out of the jeep and didn't bother to wait for Eric before heading into the compound and back to the dormitory. As soon as I hit my cot it was lights out. The next morning did come too soon; the morning siren was effective in getting me up though. I yanked myself to change and followed with everyone else to the mess hall.

"You look like shit, what happened couldn't sleep?" Christina asked.

"Yeah weird dreams," I mumbled.

"You fought yesterday so should just be an easy day of training for you at least." I knew she was trying to cheer me up but it just reminded me how not easy today was going to be. I dragged my feet all morning but after I got some fuel in my system I was feeling more awake and was mentally preparing myself for whatever was in store for me today. My first sign that something bad was gonna happen was when Eric greeted us in the training room instead of Four. He appeared to be just fine, looked well rested and even a little excited.

"Morning initiates," he greeted all too happily. His cheeriness put everyone on edge. "Today will be you final evaluation for the first part of training. I heard mumbles rip through the crowd; this wasn't supposed to happen for another 2 weeks. "You will be judged on this so fight hard, Peter and Tris you are up first." I rolled my eyes, Peter and I had already fought once, he laid me out good, like myself Peter also tended to be overaggressive. We took our places on the mat and Eric signaled for us to begin, I noticed Four walk in and my early break of focus cost me, Peter stepped forward and swung hard, knocking me down. I felt all the air leave my body. I used what energy I had to sweep his feet out for under him giving me an extra second to inhale all I could. It wasn't long enough though, he yanked my feet pulling me closer to him, crawled on top of me and the blows began coming, I tried all I could to get him off but I could barely breath, the last hit came through my arms and straight to my face…

When I woke up my head was pounding, I was off to the side of the mat. It took my eyes a few minutes to focus but it appeared Christina was getting beaten by Will. I looked around and saw Eric was gone only Four was there evaluating. I tried to stand but the room began to spin so I decided to stay put. After another hour everyone seemed to be in the same boat as me, even the winners didn't come out that great, except for Peter of course. All the initiates were sprawled out covering the training room, trying to recover in peace. Four made his way over to me and bent down to speak.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I got distracted when you walked in and Peter, he just got the best of me. Eric did it because I pissed him off yesterday."

"What happened to you? You were gone all night?" Four asked lowering his voice to a whisper so no one could hear him.

"It's a long story can we catch up later? My head feels like it is going to explode. Don't let Eric rank me too low for that fight alright?" I asked.

Four laughed, "You would be worried about that." He stood up and went to check on other initiates. I saw the medical staff making rounds, making sure we were all healthy enough to continue on in Dauntless. I pushed the medical staff away from me hardly in the mood to have them examine me. The good news is we were done for the day, everyone slowly started making their way out but I just laid there.

"You alive?" I heard yelled from the doorway. I didn't even bother to acknowledge Eric. I heard his footsteps approach and he eventually plopped down next to me. "Looked like shit out there," he said.

"You made sure of that," I mumbled rolling my eyes that I even bothered to respond.

"It wasn't my fault you got distracted."

"Bite me." Eric leaned over and bit my thigh hard. I kicked him off of me and rolled up to my knees. "Fuck off Eric," I said meeting his eyes now. He seemed amused and it annoyed me even more. "What is so goddamn funny?" I barked.

"You when you're angry."

"You are so stupid Eric, leave me alone. I don't want to do whatever we were doing before, you are just a prick and I am over it."

"Whatever we were doing? And what exactly do you think that was?" He straightened up now becoming more serious.

"I don't even care," I said standing up to leave. Eric swept my feet out from under me knocking me to the ground. I popped up and swung for him, outraged with his actions. He caught my arm mid swing and deflected it up. He spun me slightly so he could kick the back of my knees knocking me down again. This time he got on top of me pinning my legs down and my arms above my head. I was steaming, I felt like I was going to erupt. "GET OFF OF ME" I screamed.

"You don't get to tell me what to do," Eric snapped his amusement disappearing. "And you don't get to ask questions about things that don't concern you." I exhaled a deep breath trying to calm down but being restricted was making that difficult. I tried to move but he had me pinned hard.

"You are messing with the wrong person then!" My response clearly surprised him. "I am not going to do what you tell me, I am not going to let things go unnoticed without asking questions. I am not going to be some mindless solider!" My outrage had my words coming out faster than I could control them. I wanted to stop myself but I couldn't.

"You will learn to take orders or you will not be Dauntless. You will listen to me," he demanded.

"Only you." My voice was calmer now I realized there would be no escaping Eric's grasp; I couldn't even wiggle around his force too strong on me.

"What?" I took him off guard again. I tried to see if this distraction would be enough for me to force myself free but Eric didn't lighten up his grip.

"I am not going to listen to every dumbass idiot who thinks they are in charge because I am a young initiate. You said it yourself I have a brain, unlike most of the morons in here."

"Fine." His response shocked me. His agreement meant he was taking my side, it meant he thought I was right.

"Now will you get off of me?!" I demanded.

"You don't tell me what to do, remember?" There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice now.

"Alright," I mumbled rolling my eyes at him.

"I am going to let go of your arms, don't freak out," he ordered. I begrudgingly agreed. He released his grip on my hands and I was able to bring them down to my sides. It took all my restraint to keep from shoving him off me, but I knew I would just end up pinned down again. "Relax Tris," he said with a smirk now. I exhaled a deep breath; Eric leaned in and kissed my neck.

"I hate you," I mumbled though a smile was creeping across my lips.

"I can really tell," he replied.

"You better not rank me lower because of that bullshit fight."

Eric rolled his eyes and shook his head at me. "That is what you have running through your head right now?" I rolled my eyes at him, his ego always in the way of everything like I was supposed to care he was on top of me trying to play nice after setting me up to get my ass kicked this morning. I heard the door open to the training room but couldn't see who had entered. Eric glanced up and then rolled off of me. I was finally able to get to my feet. I looked and saw it was Four. "Come up to my apartment tonight, that's not a request," Eric said before walking away. I waited for Four to meet me.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Eric just flexing over me, knocked me down and pinned me, because I made him mad yesterday."

"Yeah what happened to you?"

"I went to Erudite with Eric and then," I stopped realizing I didn't know if I should tell Four. I told Eric he could trust me and I didn't feel right betraying that. It wasn't really relevant that Eric took me beyond the wall. Four was just staring at me expectedly to continue on. I had already started my next sentence and would now need to fill it with what we did after Erudite that kept me out all night. "And then we stayed out fooling around he got pissed because I shut him down," I finally finished.

"Ahh," Four seemed to understand my hesitation. "See anything at Erudite?" he asked.

"No Eric left me when he went to meet with people. He did tell me that Erudite is developing some new programs or weapons or something and that Dauntless needs to make sure they are not crossing any boundaries that he was there to see what they were developing."

"That is interesting though it doesn't explain why they come to Dauntless each week," Four replied deep in thought.

"Yeah I agree, any luck getting into that room?" I asked.

"I have an idea but it's a bit risky, and when I say risky I mean only for you."

"And what kind of plan is that?"

"You need to swipe Eric's badge, you are the only one who he spends any kind of alone time with and you are the only one who gets close enough to him when he is in a more vulnerable position." I could tell Four was trying to be delicate because he knew I hated when he implied I had a thing for Eric though I had just told him I spent all of last night messing around with him so I couldn't get too upset. Thinking about it his big plan was only risky for me and if I got caught I would be banished or hung.

"I'll see what I can do, in the meantime why don't you try and come up with a plan B," I told him before turning to head out.

"Tris why don't you come to the Pit tonight some of the older Dauntless members are going to party, rankings should be out tonight if Eric gets around to reading the evaluations I did should be a good time, you have earned it." I rolled my eyes at the door before turning back to look at Four.

"I have other plans tonight, besides I think I could use a break from all the madness that is the Pit. With initiation and training and all my extra circulars I just want to be left on my own for a bit recover from today's fight," I explained.

"Alright, come find me if you change your mind."

I headed back to the dorms, truth be told I was just flat out exhausted and all I really wanted to do was be left alone so I could sleep. When I reached the dorm though it was alive and well, it was clear all the initiates were ready to party and I saw bottles of alcohol being passed around. Everyone was ready to let loose with the end of phase one. I was in no mood to join though. I grabbed a change of clothes and headed out to find some peace and quiet. The entire compound was lively despite the fact it was barely 2pm I could see people already intoxicated walking the compound, apparently the end of initiation phase 1 was an excuse for all of Dauntless to party, I did find it odd that Eric was planning on missing out on all the fun by inviting me up to see him tonight.

I made my way to the dark corner where Eric and I usually met. I slid down and waited for his impending arrival. I felt someone jostle my shoulder and looked up to see Eric. I didn't realize I had dozed off. "What are you doing here?" he asked, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet.

"I was hoping to find you, or that you would find me I guess, you always seem to show up when I am alone wondering these halls."

"And why were you hoping I would come find you?" he asked, taking a step closer to me. I rolled my eyes and stepped into him; he wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed me tightly.

"I actually was hoping I could nap in your apartment just crash on the couch, everyone is celebrating and I am honestly just exhausted." He took some time to think about it before finally answering me.

"One condition." I had no idea what his condition was going to be. I wasn't even sure it was going to be a serious one or if he was just giving me a hard time. "You have to sleep in my bed, don't sleep on the couch." I rolled my eyes at him before nodding. He leaned down and started kissing me slowly; he tangled his hands in my hair pulling just hard enough. After a moment I pushed back from him.

"Does your creepy friend watch us in the control room when we are here?" I asked.

"The cameras can be moved, he moves them when I come so nothing is recorded," Eric explained. That was a new piece of information I didn't previously know, but I am sure Four knew that and I suppose it makes sense, having stationary cameras wouldn't be nearly as effective as camera's that could be moved. He motioned for me to follow him and led the way up to his apartment. When we reached his door he pulled out his badge and scanned it, the door then opened.

"Your badge is your key?" I asked intrigued.

"Yeah once you become Dauntless you will get a badge with whatever access you profession requires and it will also act as your apartment key. It is just added security so we never have to worry about the wrong people being in the wrong rooms." Eric explained. I watched as he slide his badge back into his pocket.

"So the only way for me to get in here is with you? What if I wanted to come in here one night and surprise you" I asked, pulling him closer to me. He pushed me into this apartment and the door close behind us. He shoved me against his wall hard and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt my heartrate increase. The one thing I could not deny about Eric was that he was the most passionate man I had ever come across. He began biting at my neck, I could feel his body heat radiating onto me, it was electric, but I managed to shove him off of me.

"Why do you always do that?" he asked with a smirk.

"Because we both know once you get what you want you will get bored an move on, an I don't think I am ready for that just yet," I said with a wink. HE ran his hands over his face clearly trying to calm himself. "I am going to nap," I said, taking the moment to escape. I headed down a hall which did eventually lead to a bedroom. It was a little weird but Eric had insisted I sleep here and the oversized bed looked a hell of a lot more comfortable than the couch or even the cot I had been sleeping on these past few weeks. I crashed down and curled up under the covers, couldn't have been more than a few minutes before I was out cold.

 **A/N Tris is going to find out exactly what Eric has been up to in Erudite and she will find herself in a sticky situation. Stay tuned! Thanks for all the positive feedback. Let me know what you think.**


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